MODULE 7 STS - development of the first numbering systems.

History The first 1 – 9 system was created in 100AD;

- Information Age is tightly attached to the
advent of personal computers but many computer
historians tracked its beginnings to the research
- A Mathematical Theory of Communication
conducted by Claude E. Shannon, a researcher and
mathematician, and also known as the "Father of
Information Theory."
.
Information Technology
The system of information - the storing,
retrieving, manipulating, and communicating
information has been in place since the Sumerians in
Mesopotamia developed writing in 3000 BC.
Information technology, in the modern sense is
defined as the use of any computers, storage,
networking and other physical devices,  adding machine
IT is used in the context as personal or
entertainment technologies.
The term information technology was coined
by the Harvard Business Review. As the IT industry
evolved from the mid-20thcentury, computing
capability advanced while device cost and energy
consumption fell lower, a cycle that continues today
when new technologies emerge.
and the number 0 was invented and added in
875AD. This was followed by the invention of
calculator, and then known as abacus. This
was the very first sign of information
processor.
1) Mechanical (between 1450 and 1840)
- Development of new technologies like the
slide rule, an analog computer used for
multiplying and dividing
- Blaise Pascal invented the Pascaline, a very
popular mechanical computer. also called
Arithmetic Machine, the first calculator or
- Charles Babbage developed the difference
engine which tabulated polynomial equations
using the method of finite differences.

Evolution of Information Technology:

Pre-mechanical Age (between 3000BC and 1450AD)
is the earliest age characterized by using of language
or simple picture drawings known as petroglyphs
usually carved in rock. Early alphabets were
developed such as the Phoenician alphabet.
Petroglyph

- It started off as just marks in wet clay

- paper was created out of papyrus plant.
- As information grew, people realized the
importance of organizing and storing them in
permanent storage.
- First books were written and kept in libraries.
Egyptian scrolls and book-like binding of
paper were popular ways of writing down
information to save.

1

Difference Engine
2) Electromechanical (1840 -1940)
- beginning of telecommunication.
- telegraph- transmitting and receiving
messages, in the early 1800s.
- Morse code - method used in
telecommunication to encode text characters
was created by Samuel Morse in 1835.
- telephone created by Alexander Graham
Bell in 1876.
- Radio developed by Guglielmo Marconi in
1894. These emerging technologies led to
bigger advances in the information technology
field.
- first large-scale automatic digital computer
in the United States was the Mark 1 created
by Harvard University around 1940. This
computer was 8ft high, 50ft long, 2ft wide, and
weighed 5 tons. It was programmed using
punch cards.
3) Electronic (1940 – present)
- The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator
and Computer) was the first high-speed,
digital computer capable
- designed to be used by the U.S. Army for
artillery firing tables.
- bigger than the Mark 1 taking up 680 square
feet and weighing 30 tons. It mainly used
vacuum tubes to do its calculations.
There are five main generations of digital
computing.
1. The first generation (1942 -1955) used vacuum
tubes. This period marked the beginning of
commercial computer age via UNIVAC (Universal
Automatic Computer), the first commercially available
computer.
- developed by two scientists Mauchly and Echert at
the Census Department of United States in 1947. 
Examples of first generation computers are
ENIVAC and UNIVAC-1.
2. The second generation (1955 -1964)
used transistors in 1947.
- These scientists include John Barden, William
Brattain and William Shockley.
- replacing vacuum tubes with transistors.
3. The third generation (1964 – 1975) used
the integrated circuits (IC). Jack Kilby developed
in 1958. The first IC was invented and used in
1961. The size of an IC is ¼ square inch. A single
IC chip contain thousands of transistors.
4. The fourth generation (1975 – present)
computers started with the invention of
Microprocessor.
- contains thousands of ICs. Ted Hoff produced the
first microprocessor in 1971 for Intel. It was known as
Intel 4004. The LSI (Large Scale Integration) circuit
and VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) circuit was
designed. It greatly reduced the size of computer. The
size of modern Microprocessors is usually one square
inch. It can contain millions of electronic circuits. The
examples of fourth generation computers are Apple
Macintosh &IBM PC.
5. The fifth generation (Present and beyond)
computers are based on the technique
of Artificial Intelligence (AI). They can
understand spoken words and imitate human
reasoning. They can respond to its
surroundings using different types of sensors.
IBM Watson supercomputer is an example
of fifth generation computer. It combines
artificial intelligence (AI) and sophisticated
analytical software for optimal performance as
a "question answering" machine. The
supercomputer is named after IBM's founder,
Thomas J. Watson. The Watson
supercomputer processes at a rate of
80 teraflops (trillion floating point operations
per second). To replicate (or surpass) a high-
functioning human's ability to answer
questions, Watson accesses 90 servers with a
combined data store of over 200 million pages
of information, which it processes against six
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 million logic rules
Inventions do not generally happen by accident or in a
random order. Chris Woodford, a British Science
writer and consultant explained that science and
technology progress in a very logical way, with each
new discovery leading on from the last.
Computer
- important development in the Information Age, it
is the invention of computer.
- machine or device that performs processes,
calculations and operations based on instructions
provided by a software or hardware program.
- execute applications and provides a variety of
solutions by combining integrated hardware and
software components.
Types of Computer
Since the advent of the first computer different
types and sizes of computers are offering different
services. Computers can be as big as occupying a
large building and as small as a laptop or a
microcontroller in mobile and embedded systems.The
byte-notes.com enumerates the four basic types of
computers:
1) Supercomputer
- most powerful computers in terms of performance
and data processing.
- used for research and exploration purposes
- NASA uses supercomputers for launching space
shuttles, controlling them and for space
exploration purpose. The supercomputers are
very expensive and very large in size.
Uses of Supercomputers:
 Space Exploration
 Earthquake Studies
 Weather Forecasting
 Nuclear Weapons Testing
2) Mainframe Computer-
not as powerful as supercomputers, but many
large firms
- use this type of computer to run their business
operations.
3) Minicomputer –
- used by small businesses & firms. They are also
called “Midrange Computers”.
- can be accommodated on a disk with not as
processing and data storage capabilities
- These computers are not designed for a single
user. Individual departments of a large company
or organizations use Mini-computers for specific
purposes.
4) Microcomputer –
- Desktop computers, personal computers
(PCs), laptops, personal digital assistant
(PDA), tablets, and smartphones are all types
of microcomputers.
- cheapest types of computers.
- designed for general usage like
entertainment, education and work purposes.
Well known manufacturers of Micro-computer
are Dell, Apple, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba.
Influences of the Past on Information Age:
- The Renaissance Age created the idea
inventions, while too advanced for the time; the
basic idea was used to develop modern
inventions.
- The Renaissance also changed literature.
- During the Renaissance, people began to write
realistic books and not just religious stories.
- People’s mindset about themselves changed. It
was no longer about what humans could do for
God, but what humans could do for themselves.
This way of thinking is called humanism.
Internet Technology
- In 1960, the first practical prototype ARPANET, or
the Advanced Research Projects Agency
Network. funded by the U.S. Department of
Defense,
- used packet switching to allow multiple computers
to communicate on a single network.
- In 1971, Ray Tomlinson invented and developed
what is called electronic mail or email today,
- In 1983, ARPANET adopted TCP/IP, researchers
assembled the “network of networks” that became
the modern Internet.
- America Online (AOL), Echomail, Hotmail and
Yahoo shaped the Internet and email landscape
Social Media
- Since the birth of Internet and WWW, social
media platforms continuously evolve (i.e., AOL,
Yahoo messenger, bulletin board forum systems,
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 game-based social networking sites, FaceBook,
Myspace, Viber, Skype, etc.)
- Social media as the different forms of online
communication used to create networks,
communities, and collectives to share information,
ideas, messages, and other content, such as
videos.

Email, Social Media, and Texting Guidelines

Internet etiquette, also known as Netiquette,

1. Be nice.
2. Learn Internet acronyms.
BTW, TTYL, LOL, ROTFL, POV
3. Keep messages and posts brief.
4. Don’t shout.
5. Use discretion.
6. Protect personal information.
7. Obey copyright laws.
8. Protect children
9. Before you click “Send”,
10. Help others
11. Internet trolls
.